News

PARIS & CASTRES, France - Building on the success of their first agreement entered into in 2017, Institut Curie and the Pierre Fabre Research Institute (IRPF) are renewing their partnership to identify new therapeutic strategies in immuno-oncology. The two partners aim to explore new molecular targets that are likely to adjust the immunity involved in controlling cancer development using models developed by Institut Curie in collaboration with IRPF based on human tumor cells.

To build on the success of our first partnership initiated in 2017 with the Pierre Fabre Research Institute, we are going to launch a new joint project to understand the immune environment of tumors and better exploit it to combat cancer. We are going to involve a second team from Institut Curie’s U932 Unit and focus on a detailed analysis of a new, innovative target using human cell models specifically developed for immuno-oncology research. Through this cooperation, we hope to provide a tangible contribution to developing a new therapeutic target for treating cancer patients using immunotherapy, explained Sebastian Amigorena, Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Center at Institut Curie and Director of the Immunity and Cancer Research Unit (U932 Institut Curie / Inserm / Paris Descartes University).

Pierre Fabre’s expertise in oncology is based on 35 years’ experience in the discovery, development, production and commercialization of new treatments. The strengthening of our strategic partnership with Institut Curie is in line with our commitment to providing transformative therapies for cancer patients. It will bring together the exceptional immuno-oncology expertise of Institut Curie’s oncologists and biologists with our research and development teams’ ability to quickly develop anti-cancer drug candidates on a new therapeutic target, stated Eric Chetaille (MD), Director of the Oncology Innovation Unit at Pierre Fabre.

We’re very pleased that the partnership initiated in 2017 with the Pierre Fabre teams has been as successful as expected and that it will continue for another 18 months. It is a great example of the value of establishing an open dialogue between academic research and industrial research. Companies such as Pierre Fabre have understood this and are seizing opportunities to participate in innovating in the highly-competitive immuno-oncology market, added Amaury Martin, Director of Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership at Institut Curie and Director of Institut Carnot Curie Cancer.